testing, and writing and reading are getting worse every year. They still
can't write a complete sentence. They still graduate w/o knowing
multiplication facts. They still don't know what they've read after they
read it. They don't care. They just care about X-Boxes and fake nails.

On 1/15/09, Vicky wrote:
> From Vicky- Thank you for responding.Even though we practice so much for
> the test, do you think we are better teachers because of testing. What
> are you doing different now that you would not have done prior to
> testing. I know you practice for the test but are you still teaching
> writing and reading as you practice? I'm completing graduate work about
> this subject, and I really want to know what teachers think. Thanks,
> Vicky
>
>
> On 1/07/09, Tessa- FL wrote:
>> On 1/04/09, Jo wrote:
>>> I'm not sure that is teaching to the test, testing.
>>>
>>> Think about it. Apparently, the students reading strategies were
>>> weak and their writing was weak. Learning new methods and
>>> strategies can help them become better writers by using different
>>> techniques or learning reading strategies to comprehend the text
>>> better are all methods to help the students improve skills.
>>>
>>> Here is an example of teaching to the test. The MS writing test
>>> expect so see specific types of writing used in the student's
>>> writing to the prompt. So, the teacher works with each student to
>>> find a word such as however, therefore, of course and teaches the
>>> student how to use this word in almost any essay. The teacher
>>> then finds a list of things the student can put in a series
>>> separated by commas. The teacher then teaches the student how to
>>> use a compound sentence that can appear in almost any writing or
>>> how to join any two sentences with and. Knowing the state writing
>>> assessors need to see these specific things, the teacher has the
>>> student write multiple essays using these specific examples. The
>>> rest of the essay is very simplistic, but the high-powered verb
>>> that was learned is there, the list is there, the introductory
>>> word followed by a comma is there. The three adjectives they know
>>> are there and so is the one adverb. This is how a group of
>>> students passed the state writing test (barely).
>>>
>>> Reading, teach process of elimination of answers and how to look
>>> back to find information by matching common phrases. The majority
>>> of the time using these strategies, a student can pass a reading
>>> state test in my state.
>>>
>>> I would rather teach a student to read the text and understand it
>>> rather than how to go back to find the right answer. Most of
>>> life's reading does not come with a multiple choice test following
>>> the text.
>>>
>>
>> Amen. Jo is exactly right. We spend 2 days taking a benchmark test,
>> then another 3 days reviewing it (what should you have done to get
>> the right answer: eliminate responses, skim, look for key vocab).
>> That's a whole week devoted to taking and reviewing a test, and we do
>> that 6 times a year. That's six weeks blown for pure testing
>> purposes. And we have more testing beyond that. And this is only
>> first grade. Poor little 6 year old babes. But we have to because
>> we're on our 4th or 5th year of not making AYP, and they're about to
>> shut us down and make us a charter or do whatever it is they do even
>> though we're an A (and before that a B) school for over 10 years. But
>> AYP is all that matters to them.
>>
>> This is also why they cut recess to 1 day a week K-3 and none in 4-5.
>> It's sick.

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